Game Change

But if there is harm, then you shall pay life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.

Exodus 21:23-25

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 6:23

Easter week is filled with Easter baskets, Peeps, egg hunts, and Easter hams. Somewhere in the midst of all the fuss is the reality that on Easter, Jesus changed all the rules. The Old Testament teaches that our imperfections and sins have a cost and consequences. We hear in the New Testament that our sins have the consequence of death, similar to the Old Testament in a culture of animal sacrifice to pay the cost of sins.

Throughout this week you will hear people saying things like, grace is free, and that Jesus offers you this free gift. Jesus offers you this gift at no cost to you, but He had to pay for it with His own life. Jesus died on the cross and took on death, the ultimate game over, dead end, it’s over, that ever existed. When he came down from the cross and was put in the grave, these verses about the cost of sin were true as the day they were written, death was the end of the road on this earth, there was not way to make a U-turn out of it, at least before Jesus.

Early Easter morning Jesus did not just conquer death, he smashed it, exploding out of the grave. Easter morning Jesus rewrote all the rules. Death no longer won, sin no longer bound people until they sacrificed an animal to make amends, till people earned or bought their forgiveness and reconciliation. It was no longer about what we did to earn repentance for our brokenness. There was no more eye for an eye, just grace and new life through the man who died on the cross for each of us.

So when someone tells you grace is free, remember, although it doesn’t cost you anything, it cost Jesus everything. Scripture tells us that Jesus turned his face “like flint” to that task for you, so that Easter morning would be unlike any other morning. Jesus died and on Easter so that we would experience a game change, a new reality that we still live in today, where grace is free, and forgiveness is offered to you through Him.

 

Pastor Bill

Build A Savior

“He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him. He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain…Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering,” Isaiah 53: 2-4 (excerpts)

 

As we approach Easter, Christians will open the Bible and read texts like this one from Isaiah talking about the coming Messiah, Jesus. We will be challenged to reflect on the person of Jesus, the one who died for us on the cross. We will celebrate Easter, and celebrate the person of Jesus. Depending on who you talk to, you may hear a variety of understandings of who Jesus is, and what His work means. For some, Jesus is like a Build a Bear. You choose a case, level of stuffing and what clothes to wear, what to name it, and more. At Build a Bear you have a totally customized experience for each person. Some will look at Jesus similarly. For some Jesus is a cuddly teddy bear, who only loves me and never tells me I am doing anything wrong; for others Jesus is a great teacher, filled with deep theological thoughts, but disconnected from the reality we live in, and the list could go on.

 

As we reflect on these passages and the person of Jesus we are faced with a reality from Scripture; Jesus is who He is, not who we might want Him to be. Jesus is not meant to be a highly customizable savior who molds and fits our flavor or desire of the week. Jesus is instead the Son of God, revealed to us in the Bible, revealed to people as He walked this earth and did His ministry. Jesus is more than anything we could ever describe or try to put words to. So this Easter season as we think about the person of Jesus, look at the Bible, read about the stories, the interactions, the meals, and all that we learn about Jesus from Scripture. Make sure the picture of Jesus that you are reflecting on is not from Build a Bear, but instead from God’s Word.

 

Pastor Bill

 

Discussion Questions

 

1. What does your picture of Jesus look like?

 

2. Do you have any scriptures that are helpful as you think about Jesus during Easter season?

 

Easter Leftovers

The day has finally arrived.  As a Flavin kid Christmas was a big deal.  Decorations, presents, family gatherings and games were just a few reasons Christmas was a big day in our house.  It was hard to sleep the night before because we were so excited for the long-awaited day.  Then Christmas finally came and after a whirlwind of a day, we found ourselves in bed, tired and emotionally spent.  Our adrenaline was finally allowing our heart rate to return to normal, and we wondered to ourselves, now what?

Jesus’ followers knew this feeling well.  They scattered after Good Friday, fearful for their lives and wondering, what do they do now?  Their leader died.  So they went and hid.  I am sure they wondered now what?  They spent the last three years following Jesus around and learning from Him, but now He was not here to follow around so what is next for them? 

As a pastor, I feel the same way about Easter.  For weeks churches talk about Easter and its importance.  On Easter Sunday many churches and Christians bring their A-game, the best clothes, food, music, decorations, and more.  What happens when we wake up the day after Easter?  For many of us, everything goes back to normal, as if Easter never happened.  Churches put away all the fanfare not to be used again till Christmas; people put away their special clothes until next Easter.  It begs the question, what did Easter really change?  If Jesus really conquered sin and death and paid the price for our brokenness, then why does our world not look any different?

Mahatma Gandhi put it well when he said “Be the change you want to see in the world.”  If we believe that on Easter Jesus changed something, that Easter makes a difference in our lives, then perhaps the change begins with everything we do.  Maybe the day after Easter change begins with how we treat those around us, the way we handle challenges at work and home.  In Scripture Jesus makes it clear to his followers, his departure, doesn’t mean the work is done, but instead, it is just beginning.

 

Pastor Bill 

Discussion Questions

1. What does Easter mean to you?
2. How will you be the change you want to see?
3. How could you encourage other in this?

He Did What?

You are called into your supervisor’s office and are handed a pink slip.  The doctor’s face tells you everything, the diagnosis is not good.  Your spouse simply says to you, “We need to talk,” and you feel the pain of years of neglect causing your blood pressure to rise.  We each have numerous moments from our lives that can be challenging and even traumatic for us.  Often our first reaction can be, why?  Why me, why now?

Peter, one of Jesus’ closest followers knew the feeling well.  One day they are walking together and Jesus begins to explain to his friends how He is going to suffer and be killed so that he can rise again on the third day.  All sorts of red flags went up in Peter’s head and he thought to himself, this can’t be so.  So Peter pulled Jesus aside from the group and said to him, “What do you mean Jesus?  You can’t leave us! You can’t die like that you are God!!! “(Matthew 16:22 my paraphrase) But Jesus quickly responds to Peter, “Peter, get out of my way. Satan, get lost. You have no idea how God works.” (Matthew 16:23, The Message)  Don’t be confused here; Jesus does not think Peter is actually Satan.  Instead Jesus is clearly saying to Peter, what you are saying speaks directly against what God has told me to do.  Imagine what Peter must have thought: “How is a person dying help anything?”, “It sounds awful, what good can come from this?”

During Holy Week we celebrate “Good” Friday, and I have had countless kids ask me, how is Jesus dying anything good? It just sounds sad.  Paul, the writer of many of our New Testament books understood this challenge well.  Paul was continually under persecution; he was arrested and beaten on more than one occasion, and even placed on house arrest for a period of time.  But Paul says this in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28, TNIV, my emphasis)  I guess that sounds nice if you are a rosy eyed optimist.  But, Paul writes this as a man under persecution, saying this not out of optimism but faith, because it gave him hope, because he believed that God was at work even in the challenges of his life.

This week churches all around the world will celebrate Jesus’ death and resurrection.  They will sing songs of Hallelujah, praise, and rejoicing.  Those same churches will be filled with individuals who may celebrate the joy of Jesus’ resurrection, but wonder when they will experience new life themselves, wondering when they will get some relief from their challenges and pain.  If our God could take the brutal death of His own son, and bring hope and goodness from that, then God is big enough to be at work in our life circumstances.  He is able to bring hope even into the darkest and loneliest corners of our lives, and I pray that we can find reassurance in that each day.

Pastor Bill

Discussion Questions

1. What challenging circumstances are you facing in your life right now?
2. Have you seen God at work during those challenging circumstances?  If so, how?
3. Are there places in our lives we may be ignoring God’s leading us to something unexpected?
4. Take a minute to read Psalm 22, a prayer of a man buried deep in the pains of life.

Time to Start

I want to thank each of you for a wonderful Easter breakfast and service last week.  My first Easter at Trinity was truly a wonderful day of worship, fellowship, and celebrating the resurrection with each of you.  It was thrilling to pack out the fellowship hall for our Easter breakfast and the sanctuary for our Easter worship service.

How do you follow that?  For many of us Easter is a day of joy and celebration, it is hard not to feel energized as you leave church following the Hallelujah chorus.  Yet why is it that for so many it will be the last time they return to a church until Christmas or the next Easter?  I believe that for many it is because on Easter something special happens.  Churches sing special songs, have special breakfasts, and do other activities to celebrate the resurrection.  Yet visitors can feel or see that those same churches seem to return to normalcy after Easter.  It can appear that even those who are mature Christians seem no different or changed by Easter the following Sunday. So how do we live lives in response to the empty tomb?  What would that look like?  How will Trinity feel different because of Easter?

We are called to live differently because Jesus reminds us that his resurrection is not just one day that we celebrate each year, but instead is a sending point for his disciples and us into ministry.  The New Testament did not end after the resurrection, it had just begun, before he left them Jesus called for his disciples to, “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:18-20, ESV) Christ’s resurrection was just the beginning of their ministry.

This week we are beginning a four week sermon series called, “Time to Start.”  Jesus tells us that his death and resurrection are not an end but a reminder to us that it is time to start.  We will be looking to scripture to guide us about where and how to start living this new life in Christ.  The bible tells us that it is time to start reaching out, time to start growing, time to start serving, and time to start caring.

April 11^th- Time to Start Reaching: Isaiah 61:1-4 and Luke 4:16-21

April 18^th Time to Start Growing: Ephesians 4:1-6

April 25^th Time to Start: YOUTH SUNDAY

May 2^nd Time to Start Serving: Hospitality- Luke 14:7-14

Pastor Bill

My hope is built…

Thursday April 1^st

This week we will hear a number of familiar passages, about Jesus betrayal, death, and resurrection.  We have heard these stories so often that we can find ourselves glancing over them.  They become common, normal passages of scripture.  Turn with me to John 13 and 14.  In John 13 Jesus celebrates the Last Supper with the disciples in the upper room.  As I read this passage I am astounded at the circumstances that He celebrated that meal in.

Jesus knew as he washed his disciple’s feet that Judas was going to betray him for a bag of silver.  Peter, the leader of the group, was going to disown Jesus publically three times before the night ended.  Imagine if you were a disciple.  Jesus had made it clear this would be your last time together, and one of your trusted friends is going to betray Jesus, the one you looked at as your leader is going to disown Jesus, and Jesus is about to turn the reigns of the church over to your group.  If I were in the room I would be panicked.  We are doomed, how could Jesus leave something as important as God’s word to a group like that?

Then you read the beginning of Chapter 14 and Jesus says to his disciples, “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me.” John 14:1, ESV   Don’t be troubled?  Jesus you are leaving us to run the church with 12 ordinary people, who have little training, and two of them are about to turn their backs on you, one of whom is your assumed predecessor.  The disciples were fearful, nervous and skeptical of the ability to do what Jesus was calling them to, to be the church after He left.

Yet Jesus reminds them to not be afraid, for Jesus is not leaving them alone, this is not their church, it is God’s.  God’s weakness is far greater than our strength.  God’s grace and power can overcome our own brokenness.  Jesus seems to ask the disciples, what do you put your Hope in?  Where is your hope in this church?  Is it in people, is that why you are afraid?   Is it because you just watched with two of your own sin, betray me, and fail.  Get used to it, because they are not perfect.

So where do we put our hope in God’s church?  For some they place their hope in a building.  “We will grow and have a great ministry because we have a great facility.”  For others they place it in their pastor, “Pastor Joe is such a great preacher, we do well during his tenure.”  There are many places that we can place our hope, but each of them can fail and falter.

This week as we celebrate Easter, take a moment to reflect, where is your hope in the church?  Is it in people or material things?  For Jesus tells us, do not fear, for I am with you.  We are to have hope in Christ’s church because of Christ.  We have hope because Jesus not only died on the cross and rose for our sins, but promises to not leave his church, but send help and guidance.  I guess the old hymn best sums this up, “My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.”

Pastor Bill